Christ Alone Is The Head of the Church
Jesus Christ is Yahweh in our flesh, the Messiah who has come to save His people from their sins (Mt. 1:21). What a description! What glory! And yet, there is even more to who He is. He is also the Head of the Church.
In the context of describing biblical marriage, Paul provides the churches in Ephesus the preeminent example of what marriage is to be modeled after. In Ephesians 5:23-24, Paul says, “For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the Head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.”
Christ: The Head
Notice what is couched in the middle of this: “Christ is the Head of the Church.” Keeping the metaphor of the Church being His Body, Paul says that Christ is the Head of that Body. Matthew Henry (1662-1714) comments, “Christ’s authority is exercised over the church for the saving of her from evil, and the supplying of her with everything good for her.” Christ is a good and gracious Head of the Body. He is not harsh in His authority. He is most kind, loving, gracious, tender, gentle, and lowly. He is both Lion and Lamb as the Head of the Church.
While He firmly stands upon the truth and protects the Church from false teaching, He is still the One who is in the process of saving sinners from the posture of a gentle and lowly heart (Mt. 11:28-30). Yet, we need to remember that His truth must be protected and promoted.
Christ Alone Is The Head of the Body
It is important to note that Christ and no one else is Head of the Church. In every local church, the Head of the church is not the Pastor, Bishop, or Pope. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who reigns and rules on the Throne of thrones.
John Calvin is worthy of quoting at length here:
“He was made the head of the Church, on the condition that he should have the administration of all things. The apostle shows that it was not a mere honorary title, but was accompanied by the entire command and government of the universe. The metaphor of a head denotes the highest authority. I am unwilling to dispute about a name, but we are driven to it by the base conduct of those who flatter the Romish idol. Since Christ alone is called ‘the head,’ all others, whether angels or men, must rank as members; so that he who holds the highest place among his fellows is still one of the members of the same body. And yet they are not ashamed to make an open avowal that the Church will be ἀκέφαλον, without a head, if it has not another head on earth besides Christ. So small is the respect which they pay to Christ, that, if he obtains undivided the honour which his Father has bestowed upon him, the Church is supposed to be disfigured. This is the basest sacrilege. But let us listen to the Apostle, who declares that the Church is His body, and, consequently, that those who refuse to submit to Him are unworthy of its communion; for on Him alone the unity of the Church depends.”
Implications of Christ Alone as the Head of the Church
Ultimate authority for the Church—how it is to worship, govern, and minister—rests upon Christ and His Word alone. Charles Spurgeon is necessarily firm on this truth: “It is awful blasphemy for any man on earth to call himself Christ’s vicar and the head of the church, and it is a usurpation of the crown rights of King Jesus for any king or queen to be called the head of the church, for the true Church of Jesus Christ can have no head but Jesus Christ Himself.”
Why is this so important? First, because we glorify God when we adhere to His Word. It is a gross offense to steal this authority and place it upon someone else. Second, He has all authority in Heaven and on Earth and that authority is contained in His Word. What His Word says is what He says—in every part. Third, we don’t need any Mediator between us and God besides the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Son of God took on flesh to become The Mediator between us and God. It would greatly distort the gospel of grace to provide another mediator between us and Christ. Fourth, This means that all church leaders are accountable ultimately to Christ. Elders are to shepherd the Church on behalf of Christ.
Weary sinners can take great courage to come directly to Christ knowing that the One who has all authority over His people will mercifully forgive them, cleanse them, justify them, and empower them for godly living. Arrogant leaders need to greatly humble themselves knowing that they are only to lead God’s people in ways that God approves of. They don’t have any authority inherently in themselves. It is a derived authority to rule the Church as Christ Himself rules the Church. Christians who are worried about the threats in society against the Church don’t need to fear because Christ is undefeated. He won’t let the gates of hell prevail (Mt. 16:17-19). He has won, is winning, and will win. That goes for you individually and for us collectively.